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Friday, January 29, 2016

Breyers Ice Cream Meltdown

This guy again. Last year it was the non-melting cheese. This year, non-melting ice cream. If he did a little research, he'd find that he's a few years behind the hysteria already (look up the non-melting ice cream sandwich), but I guess he makes the old new again and gets the youtube hits (although he disables comments on his video because he's probably afraid of a little science understanding might ruin his reputation ;) )

Within the first minute of this almost 11-minute video I wanted to turn it off as I could see where it was going. Not once did he make any effort to research and find out anything about the ingredients and he lies right off the bat.

What is modified milk ingredients? Well this could be many things. It can include casein, caseinates, whey products, yogurt, sour cream, cultured buttermilk, ultrafiltered milk, milk protein concentrate just to name a few. They are also called natural milk constituents as they are in a different state than what originally found. Doesn't sound so scary when you look into it.

You'll note as well that Breyers does not call it ice cream, but a frozen dessert. That may concern some, but it doesn't concern me.

He sets up his "experiment." The first thing I will note that there isn't much to this. I wouldn't even call it an experiment. He doesn't control various factors and he only does this once. A proper experiment would purchase many tubs in case one tub had a quality control flaw. The fact that all the other products had chocolate and the Breyers product did not does not make for a valid comparison and could in fact skew the results.

I have to give credit though where credit is due. He mentioned that his tub of ice cream did not have plastic on its top (but he did note that other Breyers products did). I must say it's weird though that he also mentions that the lot of that particular product did not have plastic on it. That means he opened every one. Now this is a valid concern if Breyers is not providing consumer protection on this product. I am not sure if this was a quality issue with that shipment or if it that is a normal procedure.

So does the Breyers Frozen Dessert not melt? Yes, it resists melting. This and some of the other products contain guar gum and cellulose gum (both naturally derived products by the way). These are plant-based stabilizers to prevent the products from becoming what nutritional scientist Grace Yek says "gross and crunchy." It gives ice cream a creamy texture and helps prevent the formation of ice crystals. But there is another ingredient that is my best guess as to why it did not melt (at least not in the conventional way).

He shows that there is a liquid at the bottom of the bowl of the Breyers product. So after a long enough time it begins to separate. I assume this liquid is probably the hydrogenated coconut oil separating. He also leaves this for 10 days. It's not surprising that it would smell rancid. This could also be part of the reason why after 10 days this had significant mold (or what appeared to be mold) growth. The guy does state that he doesn't know what it is. But he jumps the gun in calling it poison. If you don't know what something is, you can't claim it to be something without verification. That's just dumb and dishonest.

Now do I fancy eating frozen hydrogenated coconut oil? Not really. I would not be afraid of the Breyers product though, just as I would not be afraid of imitation cheese made from oil. Yeah, you probably are better off (especially in the taste department) eating something else as it has more nutrients (the Breyers product has no iron for example), but occasionally as a treat it would be ok.

24 comments:

The thing that got me about the mold comment was that, "factory" bread I buy lasts over a week whereas bake shop bread I buy only gets about 3 or 4 days before becoming moldy. This tells me that the "factory" bread has more preservatives....

SO.... If the OTHER frozen dessert dishes are not getting moldy, or smelling like they are rotting after 10 days, but the Breyers is, then it would lead me to hypothesis that the Breyers has LESS preservatives.

HOWEVER... all of this would require actual scientific study, not some random crap in some dude's kitchen to evaluate.

I agree Rob. While preservatives are not necessarily a bad thing (they get an automatic bad rap for some illogical reason), this guy definitely is not doing anything close to scientific. I always dislike misleading fear-mongering like this guy.

"Scientists from the Universities of Dundee and Edinburgh say they’ve formulated a new recipe for ice cream that doesn’t melt in warm temperatures — or at least, lasts a lot longer before it begins to drip.

The key is a new ingredient: a naturally occurring protein, known as BsIA, that binds together the air, fat and water in ice cream to make it melt-resistant. The researchers discovered a way to produce this protein, which already occurs naturally in some foods, in friendly bacteria. The protein sticks to fat droplets and air bubbles to make them more stable in a recipe.

“We’re excited by the potential this new ingredient has for improving ice cream, both for consumers and for manufacturers,” Professor Cait MacPhee, an experimental biomolecular physicist at the University of Edinburgh, told The Telegraph.

The shift could be particularly beneficial to manufacturers, since it would allow ice cream to remain frozen for longer, reducing the need to deep freeze the sweet treat.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, along with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is also behind the concept of a new, improved and non-melting ice cream."

It's fine, it's not dangerous, they just bind the icecream with protein so it doesn't melt as fast. It's just science.

lol... good eye. To be fair, I personally have 8 shirts that are exactly the same so I can wear 1/day.So while that could be an indicator of something odd, it is not the whole kit and caboodle. Thanks for commenting

Ok, so the frozen dessert doesn't melt. That's good :) As for calling it not good quality, well that's subjective depending on your level of education. Odd that all the other frozen desserts had chocolate and other things. Again, very unscientific comparison. Guy needs to quit trying to "science" lol. I really can't go any further into the video. Just nonsense.

Still doesn't prove it's bad for you though and that's my biggest problem with him. He is needlessly fear-mongering. He should educate himself (go to school for a dietician (nutritionist is not a protected term and is inferior in education) and study some chemistry and biology)

I agree 100% science is just studied hypothesis not facts in a real controlled area of expertise such as cancer induced ingredients untill its to late and no cure for gout or gurd as it is along with MANY other stomach issues with that being said better safe than sorry

umm, yeah, science is studying based on a hypothesis. Then the results come (the facts) and a theory is postulated. Engineers (physics, chemical etc) will utilize those theories to produce products and services that work. I really don't know what you are trying to say. Do you understand what a controlled experiment is? "Cancer induced ingredients" doesn't make any sense.

It's funny because every Breyers ice cream tub I've bought has had a seal around the lid. You can't just open it in the store and put it back on. So yeah, right off the bat I don't trust this guy. And my ice cream does melt and anything would have mould on it sitting out in room temperature like that for more than a week when it's supposed to be refrigerated and even more so when it's a dairy product.

After seeing this video l was skeptical. So l bought a bryers from dessert.l put in bowl and left on counter for 6 days and took pic every day.After 6 days it was like rubber and started to shrink and maybe 2 tbsp liquid on bottom.After seeing this l would pay extra and buy real ice cream

Way to use semantics to deflect the point. Do you really think anyone fucking cares that it's "technically not ice cream" but a "frozen desert"? It goes in the freezer. It doesn't melt like ANY other item that looks and tastes like ice does. You actually have yourselves talked into defending the ice cream..ugh...sorry...frozen-non-dairy-ice-cream-like desert treat company just so you can debunk the guy's ingredient analysis. It's about the unearthly, contrary to the laws of physics behaviour of something we put in our bodies! But hey, since it's not actually called "ice cream" he should lay off the very effective real-world example of its weirdness? You don't care that water and I guess rocky road melts when it's above zero degrees, yet whatever substance they wanna call Breyers on the box doesn't even follow a basic principle of science that we learn in grade 5? (Sorry, I AM assuming tou have a grade 5 education) So let me get this straight: if I can prove that Marlboros aren't actually cigarettes, they're a Nicotobacc Mojito, then you're going to argue that they're NOT actually bad for you? That I have no right to warn people because they "never called it a cigarette"?

Michael, I think you need to repeat grade 5. We do learn that different substances have different freezing and boiling points. You even make the erroneous comment about items that taste and look like ice. This is not ice and is not intending to be like ice. Again, you comment is just bizarre and makes no sense.

Just because something is "weird" or that you don't understand it, doesn't mean it's bad. You have to understand science, the facts, the evidence in order to ascertain that. Your comment about cigarettes is irrelevant and doesn't make any sense. And if you bothered to use a grade 5 reading level of education, you will have noticed I said I would prefer another product instead of this. You see, whether I like a product or not, or even a person, I defend the truth and not lies.

Wow NAILED IT they say its a scientific ingredient well not since the world started. ugh maybe we can live in Antarctica and not freze to death with there scientists!! Or get deathly sick before we get there!!

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